Hi everyone, With the draw coming up next Tuesday and the last qualifier to be determined with the MLS Cup Final on Saturday, I just wanted to share some preliminary certainties, based on the current club ranking (I'll review the regulations later on to check if there are any format changes from last year). - The seeded clubs for the Round of 16 will be: 1*. Columbus Crew 2*. Club América 3. LA Galaxy/NYRB 4. LD Alajuelense 5. Cavalier - The top three clubs among those participating in the First Round, set to be automatically placed in specific series, will be Tigres, Monterrey and Cruz Azul (order TBD). - Finally, as best I can tell, Sporting Kansas City (the lowest among the Liga MX and MLS participants) will be in the lower pot for the First Round, and play the second leg on the road. * For anyone better versed in Concacaf's methodology than myself: is there any chance América could catch the Crew in their Liga MX Apertura semifinal?
The regulations present no major changes from last year... but I do have a couple observations: 1) Whoever prepared this document has a penchant for assuming that the reader will hold a subsequent clause in a given article to be dependent upon previous clauses, the only logical explanation for several instances of otherwise contradictory phrases. - With respect to the Final, Art. 12.8 states that it will be held at a neutral venue, with Concacaf retaining the right to award the hosting duties to the finalist with the better record (R16 through semifinals) in Art. 12.8.1... and yet, Art. 12.12.5 states as a matter of fact that the finalist with the better record will host the game. - What happens if the US Open Cup winner obtains another Champions Cup berth? Art. 5.1.6.2 states that the US Open Cup ticket would be passed down to the tournament runner-up; Art. 5.1.7.7, OTOH, asserts that the ticket would go straight down the MLS regular season table. We know from last year, when Sporting KC got the berth in spite of being nowhere near the next in line in the league season, that the process described in Art. 5.1.6.2 is the one utilized in practice; they could have avoided the unnecessary confusion by wording Art. 5.1.7.7 like they did Art. 5.1.7.8 on the hand-me-down scenarios for the Canadian Championship. 2) Art. 12.9.1.1 intriguingly clarifies that if a two-leg series goes into extra time, only the result at 90 minutes will be used for deciding how many points are awarded from the game. Take the Philly-Saprissa series from last year as an example: the Union lost the second leg 3-2 in regular time, only to tie on the night and win the series in extra time. By Concacaf's logic, that second leg would've counted as a loss regardless, with Philly only having 3 points in their record heading into the following round (it didn't matter in real life - just using it as an illustration).
The latest Concacaf rankings are out, giving us clarity on where the preseeded teams find themselves in the bracket. The best way for me to visualize it here is by focusing on the Round of 16 stage, with the team listed first hosting the return leg (brackets = top-seeded 1st Rd team involved in series)... Columbus Crew (USA) vs. 1st Rd. Series 1 winner Cavalier (JAM) vs. 1st Rd. Series 2 winner 1st Rd. Series 3 winner [CF Monterrey (MEX)] vs. 1st Rd. Series 4 winner LD Alajuelense (CRC) vs. 1st Rd. Series 5 winner --- Club América (MEX) vs. 1st Rd. Series 6 winner 1st Rd. Series 7 winner [Cruz Azul (MEX)] vs. 1st Rd. Series 8 winner 1st Rd. Series 9 winner [Tigres UANL (MEX)] vs. 1st Rd. Series 10 winner LA Galaxy (USA) vs. 1st Rd. Series 11 winner EDIT: I slightly updated the order of the series to align with the official procedures. Concacaf also announced the pots to be used for the draw:
mlssoccer.com/news/2025-concacaf-champions-cup-draw-10-mls-teams-learn-opponents Round One: MLS matchups Eight MLS clubs enter in Round One, which begins as early as Feb. 4. FC Cincinnati vs. FC Motagua Inter Miami CF vs. Sporting Kansas City LAFC vs. Colorado Rapids Real Salt Lake vs. CS Herediano Seattle Sounders FC vs. Antigua GFC Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Deportivo Saprissa Round of 16: MLS matchups Columbus (Leagues Cup 2024 winner) and LA Galaxy (MLS Cup presented by Audi winner) earned an automatic bye into the Round of 16, which begins as early as March 4. Columbus Crew vs. winner of LAFC vs. Colorado Rapids LA Galaxy vs. winner of Real Salt Lake vs. CS Herediano
Whisper it softly... but there's a real chance for Central America to make some noise in the Champions Cup for the first time in a while.
Shame the Rapids play another MLS club. I’d like to have seen someone knew. Or at least from the other conference.
Which is a tough out for both of them: América losing the second leg last time around hurt their chances of getting 2nd-leg hosting privileges later on in the tournament (they finished the semifinal on the road, and would've had to travel for the Final if they made it).